Tuesday, 26 November 2019

quantum field theory - Feynman ivarepsilon-prescription in path integral by adding an imaginary part to time


It is known that the well-definiteness of the path integral leads to the Feynman's iε-prescription for the field propagator. I've found many ways of showing this in the literature, but it is precisely the way that I have learned in my QFT course (and which I have not found in literature) that I do not understand.


Context of the problem


Considering the case of a real scalar field for simplicity, one has that the following path integral (evaluated at asymptotic times)


limTϕ(T,x)ϕ(T,x)Dϕ exp(iTTdtd³x (L+Jϕ))


can be expressed as



\begin{equation} \lim_{T \rightarrow \infty} \sum_{m, n} e^{-i\left(E_n+E_m \right)T} <\phi, T|n, T>_J _J \tag{2} \end{equation}


where |n>J are eigenstates of the hamiltonian H in the pressence of the source J. In order to make this oscillatory exponential converge (and properly define the path integral) one adds to T a small imaginary part TT(1iε). With this, one writes the vacuum persistence amplitude as <0|0>J=1Nlimε0 limT(1iε)Dϕ exp(iTTdtd³x(L+Jϕ) )1NZ[J]

where the constant N is typically taken to be N=Z[0].


My problem


In order to relate Z[J] with the Feynman propagator DF(xy), one typically writes the argument of the exponential in the Fourier space, then makes the change of variable ˆϕ(p)=ˆϕ(p)+(p²m²)1ˆJ(p)

(which leaves Dϕ=Dϕ) to get


Z[J]=Z[0]exp(i2dp(2π)ˆJ(p)1p²m²ˆJ(p)).

Here I'm using the (+,,,) Minkowski sign convention.


Now here I've been told that the fact of replacing T(1iε)T to define the path integral is equivalent in Fourier space as p(1+iε)p. With this, one gets the correct iε Feynman prescription for the propagator DF(xy)


Z[J]=Z[0]exp(i2dp(2π)ˆJ(p)1p²m²+iεˆJ(p))=Z[0]exp(12dydx J(x)DF(xy)J(y)).


And this is the part that I don't get at all, I've tried but I don't see how the fact that T(1iε)T leads in the previous approach to p(1+iε)p and therefore to the Feynman prescription. I'm having nightmares with this, any help would be really appreciated.


NOTE: I use the following convention for the Fourier transform ˆϕ(p)=dx ϕ(x)eipx


so that ϕ(x)=dp(2π) ˆϕ(p)e+ipx.





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